Pendragon Variety Networkhttp://pendragonvariety.com
Lady Authors Dedicated to Fandom and FictionSat, 30 Dec 2017 15:45:50 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States Licensependragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Network)pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Network)http://pendragonvariety.comhttp://pendragonvariety.com/logo.jpgPendragon Variety LogoLiterary Magazine PodcastPendragon Variety is a audio magazine of speculative or genre fiction such as fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Written, edited, and produced by the Pendragon Variety Team.literature,genre,fiction,short,novel,podcast,magazine,fantasy,scifi,science,horror,speculative,pendragon,varietyPendragon Variety TeamnonoCreative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States Licenseliterature,genre,fiction,short,novel,podcast,magazine,fantasy,scifi,science,horror,speculative,pendragon,varietyArts/Literaturependragonvariety@gmail.comPendragon Variety TeamPendragonvarietyhttps://feedburner.google.comSubscribe with PodnovaSubscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with PageflakesSubscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with ODEOSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with PlusmoSubscribe with The Free DictionarySubscribe with Bitty BrowserSubscribe with Live.comSubscribe with Excite MIXSubscribe with WebwagSubscribe with Podcast ReadySubscribe with WikioSubscribe with Daily RotationHiatushttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/n23_vEetjO4/2677
http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2677#respondSat, 30 Dec 2017 15:45:50 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2677The short of it:

Thank you for visiting our website and supporting our authors. Pendragonvariety.com will be on indefinite hiatus. In the mean time, you can visit our authors page to find their author websites – our authors are always up to something!

The long of it:

We have enjoyed highlighting our authors new releases, book reviews, and related news on this blog for the past two years. During those two years we dealt with many technical issues in our attempts to optimize our social media reach with automated tweets and posts to facebook — some of these automated features now refuse to work, and unfortunately, we have a small staff for curating things like that by hand. During that time we’ve also seen many of our authors adjust their social media usage, such as by moving to Patreon, and we feel it is time that we, too, took stock and adjusted. If you’ve been with us from the beginning, you may recall that we started as a podcast which ended when several of our podcasters experienced life changes simultaneously. So much has changed since then in the internet and writing worlds, and yet many things have not changed–such as our authors still producing wonderful stories. This blog served as a rebirth and re-branding of the podcast that we hoped would aid our favorite authors in reaching readers, and give readers a place to discover and follow several female authors hand-picked by our staff. We already know of several exciting projects by our authors for the upcoming year, but we are not sure the best way to share them.

At our core we have always been about writing and reading genre fiction. We would love to revitalize this website. We’re open to ideas on the best way to go about that. If you have ideas or are interested in helping, we’d love to hear from you.

Princess-author Alethea Kontis continues to entertain with her free patreon posts, Weekly Smilemail and Fairytale Friday, which recently featured her rant on Rumplestiltskin.

Althea asked her fans what awesome authors they follow on Patreon. Check out Althea’s list of Awesome Patreon Authors! Alethea invites you to comment with any authors you don’t see on the list. What a great way to discover authors and help others discover your favorites!

Meanwhile, Alethea Kontis posted her amazing Wonder Woman photoshoot for her patreons, and she added a new patreon goal that has us all buzzing: if she can reach her monthly patreon goal, she will drop everything else to finish the Woodcutter Sisters series!!! You can find the first one, Enchanted, here. Alethea Kontis also posts weekly smile mail for her patreons. Enjoy!

Helena Martin doesn’t know who she hates more, the sorcerers who fired the magic-laced bullet or the gang-lord master who used her mother as a shield. Both hunt the remnants of her pack and the only way Helena can protect them is using her newly-unleashed magic to lead the two factions away.

With a coveted book of spells as bait, she flees Miami and heads for her mother’s Minnesota hometown. There, salvation comes in the form of a dog rescue willing to take in a different kind of stray. The illusion of a peaceful life is seductive but with sorcerers and bounty hunters sniffing around every corner, Helena fights to keep her past, her pursuers, and her unstable power a secret.

Then she discovers it’s not the spell book her enemies are after, but Helena herself, and the strange power she can barely control. When her master’s bounty hunters threaten her new home, Helena realizes that protecting the people she’s grudgingly come to love leaves her with one option: join the sorcerers who killed her mother.

The twelve stories in Wicked Deeds tell tales of witches and warlocks with ill intent, devilish demons bent on destruction, and other doers of evil who make the world a terrifying place. What is a mother to do when her daughter is gifted but lives under the thumb of her fanatical preacher husband who will brook no talk of the supernatural? What of a demon so desperate to free himself of a trap that he will force another to repeat his atrocities and condemn a young boy to his demonic fate? Or maybe the story of a crotchety old witch with a score to settle against the town she lives in is more to your liking – what evil will the seemingly harmless town-crazy call upon when faced with an ultimatum?

If you’re looking for wicked people with supernatural abilities doing wicked things, this is the collection for you!

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2542Out Soon – The Perils of Prague by @doccolemanhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/T7128oUKZHo/2517
Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:18:14 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2517Lauren Harris shares with us the upcoming release by Doc Coleman, The Perils of Prague (The Adventures of Crackle and Bang Book 1), a Steampunk Adventure/Comedy up for pre-order. Check out that bangin’ cover. Hey, is that a quote from Jody Lynn Nye?! Cool! Snag the book while it’s still on preorder! (Releases the 25th)

BLURB

Victoria, the Eternal Empress, has sat the throne of the British Empire for over 150 years. Her policies have brought peace to the world by suppressing the development of “dangerous technologies”, and where that has failed, her Imperial Troops, with their lightning rifles, have swiftly brought order. But there are still those who chafe at the yoke of peace.

When an evening’s entertainment in the British Protectorate of Bohemia unexpectedly leads to the destruction of the State Opera House of Prague, the eccentricity brilliant Professor Harmonious Crackle and his beautiful colleague Miss Titania Bang must team up with the Duke of Prague’s nephew and hunt down the evil genius responsible. Can they find him and stop him before he unleashes his new technology to terrorize the city and threaten the stability of the British Empire, and the Eternal Empress herself?

In a race against an unknown menace, this intrepid trio must search high and low and discover The Perils of Prague!

The professor turned to me. “Your great-grandfather was actually quite a thoughtful fellow in his youth. He did throw the most excellent parties. I never did find out what made him such a misanthrope as he got older. I’d often wondered… Wait! Wait, I was going to tell you something. Something I’d just discovered.” He looked down at the wing in his hand. “Yes! That was it! You remember the birds, the clockwork birds?”

I nodded. “Yes, Professor. It was just earlier this morning.” I wondered if it was still morning.

Professor Crackle nodded vigorously. “Yes, they’re a perfect recreation of the living creature. Or at least as best as I can tell, given the damage the sample sustained. If only I could examine an intact specimen.”

Miss Bang spoke up. “You’re drifting again, Harmonious.”

“No, no, no, no! This is important. Did you get a good look at the singers? The male and female leads?”

“At the opera?” I asked. I wasn’t quite sure where he was leading.

“Yes! Did you get a good look at them?” He seemed very agitated as he leaned toward me for my answer.

“Well, Professor, I am afraid I wasn’t really concentrating on them for most of the performance. And when things livened up at the end, my attention was, well… on other things.”

“And you, Titania?” He whirled to face Miss Bang.

“Other than the final song, they seemed quite capable, although somewhat uninspired performers.” She paused in thought for a moment, touching one finger to her lips. “I’m not sure how to describe the final performance.”

“Drat. I hoped one of you got a better look. Now we shall have to find what is left of them.” The professor moved back to his workbench and put down the wing and his loupe.

“You want to go find their bodies, Professor? Isn’t that a task better left to the police?” I did not fancy the idea of sifting through the rubble for pieces of the dead performers.

He turned to me. “Their remains, yes. But their bodies, I think not.” He lifted the wing again and shook it to illustrate his point. “I think they were clockwork.”

“A clockwork man? How is that possible?” I looked to Miss Bang, but she seemed fascinated by the idea.

“But such intricate detail, Harmonious… and such a complex series of actions to perform upon the stage. They were actually singing. It wasn’t a phonograph recording. Even with the latest equipment, one can tell the difference. I’ve never heard of an automaton that could truly sing.”

“Yes!” The professor looked like a child who had been promised a new pony. “Exactly! Such perfect duplication of the living form! When I went down on the stage and examined the woman, she looked otherwise normal except for the side of her face. The flesh sagged under a weight. I think a piece detached from the underlying support structure and dragged it out of shape. I believe the same person who made these birds constructed the opera singers as well. But I need more evidence. We need to find what is left of those performers.”

“So, we’re going back to the opera house?” Miss Bang asked.

“Yes! Well, no! We’re already there. I’m sorry about the little detour, my boy, but I’m certain your uncle is going to want to see whatever evidence we can find.”

“Surely he will be worried about my disappearance? Perhaps it would be best to just drop me off first and I can explain your theory to Uncle Randolph?” Much as I would like to avoid his wrath, putting off seeing my uncle could only make things worse.

“After losing a major landmark?” Professor Crackle asked. “Don’t be ridiculous! He may be worried, but he will have hardly a moment to think on it. No, trust me, even if you went back now you wouldn’t be able to get in to see him. But if we can find something to prove it wasn’t an accident, we’ll be able to get right in to see the duke.”

“And the police, Professor?” I asked, wondering what Inspector Janecek would think about the professor’s clockwork people theory.

“Yes, we must get there before they do! The last thing we need is for them to tromp all over everything and destroy the evidence we need.” He grabbed a pair of goggles off of a bench and strode through the door. “Come along!”

“But, but that’s not what I meant!” I sputtered and hurried to catch up to Miss Bang as she swept out of the room in the professor’s wake.

ABOUT DOC

Doc Coleman began his writing career in 2010 with the Nifty Tech Blog, a tech review blog that demystifies technology by highlighting some of the best consumer products available. Doc soon moved on to writing fiction, with the short story “The Gift”, and stories for the online magazine Flagship and for The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences’ podcast Tales from the Archives. His latest work is the first book of his steampunk series The Adventures of Crackle and Bang, The Perils of Prague.

Doc is a computer geek, a motorcyclist, a homebrewer, a podcaster, a writer, and voice actor. Sometimes, he even finds some time to relax, too.

Abigail Hilton has been posting all sorts of tantalizing things on her patreon – quotes from upcoming Jager Thunger – and then this art auction really takes the cake. Bid on ORIGINAL artwork from the ever-popular Cowry Catchers until 7 PM Eastern on Sunday April 16: https://www.ebid.net/us/users/abigailhilton/listings/

Here’s her podcast episode talking about the listing and other updates: episode 31. Only a few days left!

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2534/feed0http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2534SALE: Award-winning TALES OF ARILLAND by @aletheakontishttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/AXafvW35n14/2532
http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2532#respondMon, 10 Apr 2017 13:38:34 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2532Tales of Arilland is special to me because “Blood and Water” is the first story I read by Alethea Kontis, and I’ve been fan squee-ing after her ever since.

-Michelle “Mica” Ristuccia

Alethea Kontis’ 2015 Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award Winner, TALES OF ARILLAND IS JUST $.99 FOR A LIMITED TIME!

In the fairy tale realm of Arilland, stories are told at children’s bedsides–and not the stories you think you know. Tales of Arilland is a collection of fairy tales, presented in the magical topsy-turvy way that only Alethea Kontis can do. Discover the story of Bluebeard’s first wife (“Blood From Stone”), what really happened to Snow White in those dark woods (“The Unicorn Hunter”), how dangerous the Little Mermaid might have been (“Blood and Water”), and just how far Little Red Riding Hood was willing to go (“Hero Worship”). Included in this collection is “Sunday,” the original novelette that inspired the award-winning novel Enchanted, as well as “The Cursed Prince,” the previously untold history of Prince Rumbold of Arilland…and more.

For generations the world of Rahvas has been awash in holy war between its many temples.

Priests and priestesses have built towering monsters to destroy one another and prove their deity the One True God.

But those temples also made two mistakes. When three little girls came out of the void where Gods are born, they mistake them for humans and let them live.

Separated, Rowan, Vervain and Amaranth have lived out very different lives. One lived as a temple acolyte, another as meat for the creation of progeny, while the third learns the magic of the atheists.

As the sisters’ power unfolds and they learn the truth of who they are, the temples and all those that fight for them will find a new war on their doorstep. Rahvas will become the battleground between gods and monsters.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2515HOLE IN THE MIDDLE now available to preorderhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/MDqnVNOOwkw/2504
Fri, 24 Mar 2017 13:20:50 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2504Kendra Fortmeyer’s HOLE IN THE MIDDLE is now available for pre-order for its July 6th release date (2017)!

HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE A PART OF YOU IS MISSING?

Morgan’s sick of living with her secret. She was born with a hole in her middle: a perfectly smooth, sealed fist-sized chunk of nothing where a stomach ought to be. After seventeen years of hiding behind lumpy sweaters and a smart mouth, she’s fed up. But when she bares all, the fallout is more than she bargained for.

A few photos snowball into a media frenzy, and suddenly Morgan’s desperate to get back to her own strange version of normal. But between the hospital visits, the internet celebrity, and a disintegrating relationship with her best (and only) friend, normal is slipping farther and farther away. Then a new doctor appears with a boy who may be both Morgan’s cure and her destiny. What happens when you meet the person who is – literally – your perfect match? Is being ‘whole’ really all it’s cracked up to be?

HOLE IN THE MIDDLE explores the hard truths of being a young adult in a world obsessed with body image, instant fame and unlikely love stories.

Or, if you want to be more generous, do writing degrees help make a writer?

The short answer to the first question is “No.” We don’t need writing degrees to became great writers. So then, what DO writers need to improve their craft, and how do college classes factor into this?

I have a BA in Psychology with a Spanish minor, so I have my own opinions about colleges and degrees. Overall, I enjoyed college and can’t quite bring myself to say that I wouldn’t go if I had to do it all over again. What I never liked, though, was the number of classes required that didn’t relate to my degree–I consider that bloat.

I think the point here is that you have to learn by doing and by interacting with and learning from other people. College classes can be both, because I sure remember writing short stories and critiquing in Creative Writing class. Writing retreats can be both. (KT Byski also posted about how much she got out of the Smoky Writers Retreat). Then there’s writers and critique groups.

The question, then, is not what a hypothetical writer needs to improve their craft, but what YOU need to grow as a writer.

There’s so much out there!

-Michelle Ristuccia

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2508Update: HOLE IN THE MIDDLE cover and release date!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/FH0cpGKQGek/2497
Fri, 03 Mar 2017 20:04:53 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2497Kendra Fortmeyer’s Hole in the Middle now has a cover and release date, so go add it on Goodreads!

She also has new original fiction in Lightspeed and Apex, and a reprint of “Asymmetry” in PodCastle coming this spring.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2497Chimera by @alhilton narrated by @marksmasterhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/2QidkHGv6dI/2503
http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2503#respondSun, 26 Feb 2017 20:30:42 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2503Abigail Hilton sent word out to her Patreon followers that “Chimera” is available in audio for a limited time, until the entire short story collection goes up at Audible.com

Get Chimera, narrated by another of our lovely Ladies Pendragon, Lauren Harris, here!

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2503/feed0http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2503Giveaway and Review of The Truth About Cats and Wolves by @AletheaKontishttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/cp8IwBTyapU/2493
Fri, 24 Feb 2017 20:27:52 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2493Enter the giveaway for Alethea Kontis’ The Truth About Cats and Wolves on Goodreads before Feb 28th! Follow Alethea Kontis on patreon for updates like this one.

Michelle says, “These two new releases by Alethea Kontis will entertain and nurture the romantic in you. What better way to weather these trying times? And as per usual with Ms. Kontis, the stories have a delightful depth to them, blasting through tropes even in the context of a fairy tale.”

For generations the world of Rahvas has been awash in holy war between its many temples.

Priests and priestesses have built towering monsters to destroy one another and prove their deity the One True God.

But those temples also made two mistakes. When three little girls came out of the void where Gods are born, they mistake them for humans and let them live.

Separated, Rowan, Vervain and Amaranth have lived out very different lives. One lived as a temple acolyte, another as meat for the creation of progeny, while the third learns the magic of the atheists.

As the sisters’ power unfolds and they learn the truth of who they are, the temples and all those that fight for them will find a new war on their doorstep. Rahvas will become the battleground between gods and monsters.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2475@AletheaKontis at Coastal Magic Convention and Morehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/XMa9t09qjjo/2490
http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2490#respondThu, 02 Feb 2017 15:34:45 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2490I sure wish I was in Florida right now! Alethea Kontis is at the Coastal Magic Convention, Daytona Beach, FL–but good news for those of us stuck in other areas of the country. The Fairy Princess will be traveling to conventions all over for 2017 (MD, NC, CA, PA, TX, GA, LA…). Check out her schedule here to see where you can catch her:

Patreon makes it easy to support the authors we love! Patreon is where I learned about her exciting con schedule, and many of these posts you can see for free by clicking”follow” in the top left hand corner of the page. Check out the reward levels on the right for $1/month and up.

I started a campaign called #FearlessChaos that accompany the release of “Account of Anxiety” (the story following Blaine,). For each download AND review that I receive between now and February 14th 2017, I have a pool of money out of my own pocket that I will be donating to an organization called Freedom From Fear, a non-profit to help with awareness and help for mental-health. I felt this cause not only mixed well with my struggles, but coincides with Blaine’s struggles as well. If this campaign does well, I may do something similar for all the stories in The Chaos Accounts.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2486Abigail Hilton Moves to Patreonhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/EdGY9pReNVk/2483
Sat, 28 Jan 2017 18:09:43 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2483Like many writers, Abigail Hilton has moved her content entirely to Patreon, so if you were following her blog you need to follow her on Patreon. She will no longer release podcasts on her blog.

The great news is that Patreon allows artists to give their followers free content as well as the extra content you can get if you are able to support Abigail Hilton. So, go to https://www.patreon.com/abigailhilton and click the follow button on the left to get access to her once-a-month free podcasts. Download the Patreon app to get a podcatcher-like experience.

Pendragon co-founder Lauren “Scribe” Harris gives us a true-to-life overview of 2016 in her post One Hell of a Year. I just finished beta reading her immersive fantasy, SONG OF THE HERETIC, so I’m excited to see what she will bring us all in 2017. Join her mailing list at http://www.laurenbharris.com/

Abigail Hilton posts Hello 2017 for her patreon subscribers. Click the link to join her patreon and get access to her audio podcasts and other features.

Are you forming your writing plan for 2017? Hop on over to my blog post, How to Meet Your Goals in 10 Not-So-Easy Steps!, which also lists my goals for 2017. As I compile the lists of edits needed on DRAGON ISLANDS, I find myself hoping there’s enough of 2017 to go around! Another CHARLIE CAT book will make an appearance later this year and I hope you imagine me in the background hammering away at DRAGON ISLANDS. Join my mailing list here.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2460Premeditations now available in Ebook! @foldedwordhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/pPbRIZ8cNj8/2445
Fri, 02 Dec 2016 18:33:50 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2445Michelle’s science fiction and fantasy collection, Premeditations, is now available as an ebook from Folded Word! Get your ebook of Premeditations for your kindle here!

“‘Premeditations’ by Michelle Ristuccia offers an alluring sampler of dark flash fiction, bite-sized and delicious like a tray of freshly-baked cookies. And, as with cookies, you can’t stop at reading just one.” -Alex Shvartsman

Publisher Blurb:

With these compulsively readable stories, Michelle Ristuccia creates a new genre in PREMEDITATIONS. This chapbook achieves a fresh look at our times, seeming to simplify while posing new questions about all we accept as reality – much as fairy tales and sci fi must have when first told. Ristuccia reveals forbidden texts, such as the complete “Articles of Faith” concerning cookies: tenets that are funny and a little sad, that cut to the core of our many belief systems. She dares tell first-person, true-life accounts of encounters with stick figures that become threatening; with a father who has a dangerous, rejuvenating secret; with immature non-human beings that in no way resemble anything we’ve come to expect. Whether humanoid, android, or otherwise sentient, PREMEDITATIONS is a must read.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2445NaNoWriMo Advice abounds!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/NmaXdqB1ucQ/2432
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 14:47:23 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2432Several of us Pendragon Variety ladies are writing all the words for National Novel Writing Month, and if you’re striving alongside us, you’re about to enter week three, where many of us face a slump in word output. Maybe you’ve run through most of your outline and about to type “the end” at 20k. Maybe you’ve got loads of scenes left to write but the characters have gone left when you said right, or maybe it’s your energy that’s run off and real life is banging on your door.

Remember that NaNoWriMo is about enjoying the writing community and pushing yourself to make progress on that draft and possibly (gasp) learn things about how you write and/or why this story is/is not working for you.

Personally, I (Michelle) am working on a third book in a series and am struck once again by how many #$%@ing scenes there are to write and rewrite and notes here and timelines there and omg. One month will never be enough, but the concentrated output will give me a draft to work with and allow my brain to hyper-focus on this impossibly long thing. I’m definitely at the point in #NaNoWriMo where I feel like no matter how many words I write, there are so many left.

But never fear! NaNoWriMo offers a unique opportunity to commiserate with other writers. Advice abounds! So sit back for a moment and read something encouraging, connect with us on nanowrimo.org, twitter, and facebook, and go ahead and complain (or boast!) a little.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2434#TeaserTuesday Cover Reveal: Cursed Hearts!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/NyngJP076Jk/2388
Sun, 16 Oct 2016 14:04:24 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2388Starla Huchton’s Cursed Hearts, the second book in the Hearts of Valentia saga, comes out November 1st! She has a cover reveal and a sneak-peak excerpt on her blog. I couldn’t resist posting the cover and blurb here for you:

Cursed Hearts

The Hearts of Valentia saga, Volume II

By S. A. Huchton

At nine years old, Polliandra Quicke became the unwitting victim of a powerful spell, binding her to her best friend. Separated by years after Donnel’s sudden disappearance, Polly seeks answers when her kiss destroys two would-be suitors. Forced by circumstance to become a curse breaker for hire, she travels Valentia in search of a way to free herself; to take back her choices and a chance for a normal life.

Led to the Spires of Elonui, Polly appeals to the council of mages, beseeching their help. Their solution: a quest into the heart of territory overrun by Torn Ones, accompanied by a young mage whose eyes hold her captive. Lyre Aven might be the most frustrating person she’s ever met, but he’s her only shot at freedom.

First love can be a curse, but the closer she gets to an unbound life, the more she wonders if the magic that sealed her fate wasn’t a blessing in disguise.

On her writer’s blog, Starla Huchton talks about writers’ tendencies to work themselves to death in the competitive world of indie publishing, and how sometimes you need to take a breather:

“Write at your own pace. If you can manage 100 words a day, great! If you can do 5,000 words every three days, fantastic! But be willing to forgive yourself for days you don’t write. Other things are important, too, or maybe you just don’t feel like it. That’s okay. If you find you’re hating the act of writing, don’t write anymore. Take. A. Break.”

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2373The Worlds of Abigail Hilton – Episode 157 – Patreon RSS!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/guLdXXwmKzM/2365
Fri, 30 Sep 2016 11:09:12 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2365Patreon has an audio RSS feed so that patreon members can now listen to the feed in their podcatchers. Hilton’s feed will include weekly updates, short stories, and podcasted novels. Check out her patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/abigailhilton

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2368Kendra Fortmeyer’s Debut Novel Forthcoming from Little, Brownhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/cdHyKng8d_8/2210
Fri, 09 Sep 2016 14:04:24 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2210Wonderful news from our own Kendra Fortmeyer. She credits the Clarion SFF workshop for her upcoming 2017 publication with Little, Brown, “Hole in the Middle.” A short pitch of the book can be found here.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2210Phyllis Esposito: Interdimensional Private-Eye #237http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/0fVVRw3XKuI/2353
Tue, 06 Sep 2016 12:15:47 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2353Phyllis Esposito: Interdimensional Private-Eye #237, in which we reach “The End.” We have had so much fun following this story. Christiana Ellis has certainly delivered another awesome piece of speculative fiction. If you want to start from the beginning, start here.

KT Bryski is a Canadian author and podcaster. She has short fiction in Daily Science Fiction, and stories forthcoming from Strange Horizons and Apex. Her audio dramas “Six Stories, Told at Night” and “Coxwood History Fun Park” are available wherever fine podcasts are found, and she is currently at work on her next novel. KT is a graduate of the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing. As you may have guessed, she also has a mild caffeine addiction. Visit her at www.ktbryski.com.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2121Out now: “TEMPERED HEARTS” by Starla Huchtonhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/MS8z9b3Co4U/2280
Mon, 15 Aug 2016 14:07:45 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2280Starla Huchton’s Tempered Hearts is the first book in a brand new series where regency-style romance meets high fantasy: The Hearts of Valentia Saga!

Take a look at this gorgeous cover and blurb, then follow the links to an excerpt on Huchton’s website:

The war against corrupted monsters from the Void may have ended, but much remains broken in Valentia, including its reluctant monarch. To save the kingdom from the destruction of civil war, Darius Marillion had to sacrifice his heart, agreeing to a marriage of convenience over one of love.

Lady Arden Tanarian was born to wealth, bred to be a fine wife to a high lord. Despite her mother’s best efforts, however, her passion for the decidedly unladylike fields of chemistry and elvish culture marks her as a different breed of woman. Though she’s always been able to see the bright side of things, Arden’s hopes for her life with the dashing, but sullen prince crumble around her in learning where his heart truly lies.

Dubbed The Light of Valentia, Arden has a mystifying effect on the world around her. She inspires something in people— including Darius— that he thought he’d never feel again: Hope.

Bonds of the heart forged in battle are strong, but time changes much. When the flames of war fade to low embers, peace in a kingdom can reveal love in the most unexpected places.

]]>noLiterary Magazine PodcastPendragon Variety TeamDedicated to Fandom and Fictionliterature,genre,fiction,short,novel,podcast,magazine,fantasy,scifi,science,horror,speculative,pendragon,varietyhttp://pendragonvariety.com/archives/2275On Reviewing Bookshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/Chk2XQIZ_sE/2067
Sat, 25 Jun 2016 12:49:32 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=2067Our lovely Princess Alethea Kontis has created this shareable image on book reviewing. It’s true! You do not have to write paragraphs upon paragraphs to post a book review. Amazon cares more about the number of reviews than the content. Us authors truly appreciate your feedback. A quick sentence or two lets us know that you read the book and liked it enough to leave a review.

The words below will likely fall into the realm of unpopular opinion. Be that as it may, they are an opinion. My opinion is my own, just as yours belongs to you, and I don’t dispute that there are people who love these books and this character. I simply do not think this series of books is for me. That being said… on to the review.

A lot of years ago I read a bunch of R.A. Salvatore books because I love fantasy, and it seemed like the thing to do. They were okay, and I remember enjoying them well enough, though I also recall thinking they weren’t “spectacular,” just sort of average…

After falling in love with Brent Weeks’Night Angel Trilogy, I was eager to dive into The Black Prism. A world dominated by magic crafted through light spectrums, pistols, musketeers, war, and right at the center of it all a powerful magic user the world reveres called The Prism. And he’s not just any powerful magic user, Gavin Guile is the most powerful man in the world.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/1848Appearance: Createfest in Fuquay-Varina, NChttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/WbRK_Rjjb3E/1846
Sun, 08 May 2016 11:31:20 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=1846Michelle Ristuccia will be appearing at Createfest in NC on May 14th. Get the details from her blog:

You can pick up Funny Fantasy on [Amazon] and check out Alex Shvartsman’s website, AlexShvartsman.com – he writes plenty of funny fiction himself and edits great anthologies, including the Unidentified Funny Objects series.

From book one of this trilogy, there seemed to be a lot of minor details, things that helped expand the world, but really fit into the grand scheme of things, or so it appeared, but in the final full-length novel of the Night Angel Trilogy, Weeks brought even the most obscure of references to the forefront, providing a big bang of a finish that left me breathless.

Jennifer Melzer brings us a positive review this time as she leaves Shannara behind and tackles The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks:

This book started with a huge bang. Street kids Azoth, Jarl, and the adorable little Dollgirl they protect spend their days serving the acting ringleader of an underground thieves guild. Gutter rats is what they are, orphans left to fend for themselves, and there is little to no hope they’ll ever be anything more. Jarl, though, he’s been refusing to pay his dues, hiding his earnings away to create a purse large enough for Azoth to escape. He’s the only one of them Jarl believes has what it takes to get out, and with the money he presents to Azoth it’s quite possible he can earn himself an apprenticeship with the city’s most dangerous wetboy–Durzo Blint…

]]>noLiterary Magazine PodcastPendragon Variety TeamDedicated to Fandom and Fictionliterature,genre,fiction,short,novel,podcast,magazine,fantasy,scifi,science,horror,speculative,pendragon,varietyhttp://pendragonvariety.com/archives/1600Voyaging into Shannara–Books 0-3http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/n-vI5JCDVdY/1594
Sat, 02 Apr 2016 11:17:48 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=1594As part of the Goodreads Reading Challenge for 2016, Jennifer Melzer gives a comprehensive review of the Shannara trilogy by Terry Brooks, starting with the 1997 prequel to the original Shannara trilogy: The First King of Shannara.

You can pick up the ebook here and the audio book will soon be available at Audible.com

Episode notes from Abigail Hilton:

I talk about The Scarlet Albatross audio book and “Taking Tricks” – “Taking Tricks” will be available as a standalone on my website until the end of the year, when it will be bundled with the rest of the short stories currently exclusive to Patreon. At minute 17:00, the first episode of The Scarlet Albatross begins.

Join Trix Woodcutter on an epic new animal-filled adventure! Fey magic and animal magic: that troublemaking imp Trix Woodcutter has both, if not the ability to use them to their full potential. While traveling with his companion—the golden girl Lizinia—to see the King of Eagles, Trix is sent a vision of the Faerie Queen, who is in desperate need of his help. An evil sorceress has stormed Faerie and trapped all the fey magic under the Hill, leaving the Faerie Queen powerless! Trix’s talent for communicating with animals is desperately needed…but before he braves the wild world of Faerie he must arm himself, with nothing less than the bow and arrows of a god. With the help of his gilded companion, her ghost-cat godfather, a blind brownie and a sister or two, the Boy Who Talks to Animals must befriend a mischievous leprechaun, best a wolf, and journey into the depths of Faerie to restore order and free the fey magic before the imbalance destroys the world. Trix and the Faerie Queen is second in The Trix Adventures and sixth in the Books of Arilland Series. Fans of the Woodcutter Sisters: Desperate to know what happened to Saturday and Peregrine after they found Trix at the end of HERO? Here’s your chance!

“Yes!” I insisted, pointing. “The bundle in the robot’s arms is actually the pilot. Get him!”

We were parked about twenty yards back from the alley entrance, and we watched as the robot peeked around the corner at the building where we had been going.

Avo didn’t move. “Who is it?”

I felt that his voice lacked the appropriate level of enthusiasm. “It’s Rudolph Henricks!” I shouted. “Or at least Henricks is his name and I called him Rudolph. I’m actually not sure he’s a him, but he knows about the nanobots and he’s a big jerk! Come on!” I said, and started to get out of the truck. “He’s going to get away!”

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/1393Cover Reveal! The Ghost Rebellion by Tee Morris and Pip Ballantinehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/NGlMaCytRoQ/1387
Sat, 27 Feb 2016 16:13:51 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=1387Starla Hutchton has finished the cover for the next Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences novel by Pip Ballentine and Tee Morris! I’m going to make you go to her site to see the cover, but here’s the rest of the information for the book:

The Ghost Rebellion

The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, Book Five

by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

Publisher: Imagine That! Studios

Date of Publication: 6/10/16

Cover Artist: Photography by Go ForWard and design by Designed by Starla

Book Description:

The chase is on! After the destruction of the Diamond Jubilee, Agents Eliza D. Braun and Wellington Books are in hot pursuit of Dr. Henry Jekyll. While he continues his experiments on the aristocracy of Europe, he leaves a trail of chaos and despair in his wake. However, when Eliza and Wellington run him to ground in India, they are forced to come face to face with ghosts from the past, and the realities of empire.

Meanwhile, Brandon Hill and Bruce Campbell travel deep into Russia hunting down ingredients to save Queen Victoria’s life. Amid the cold they uncover a new threat from the revitalized House of Usher .

All the agents of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences will find their allegiances in question, and their mettle tested as a new dastardly era of international intrigue dawns.

The next thing I knew, the towel was plucked off of my face, and Eddie was looking down at me. “No time to lose, Phyllis,” she said. “Chop chop!”

I blinked, sat up quickly enough that it made me a little dizzy, and asked myself how I felt.

That I even had the presence of mind to ask the question told me that it had been at least an hour since I took the sponge. The initial rush had faded.

I looked at the display on my portal generator. It was three in the afternoon, a little over two hours since I’d taken the sponge. Now that the walls had stopped singing to me, I was able to focus a little better. I had probably another ten hours of gradually diminishing effects before I’d start to crash.

Eddie snapped her fingers behind me, and I turned around. “Let’s discuss, shall we? I do have other appointments today.”

This week, Starla Huchton released Master of Machines,the sequel to Master of Myth in her Antigone’s Wrath steampunk adventure series. It’s available in the Kindle store and Kindle Unlimited now, with a print version forthcoming. Master of Myth is on sale now to help you get started with this series.

The crew of the Antigone’s Wrath returns for more adventures around the world!

Two years after the devastating events on Yonaguni island, the consequences are still rippling through Captain Rachel Sterling’s life. Unable to bring herself to replace what she lost in that tragic affair, both she and Danton DuSalle are stretched thin. When the master-at-arms is crippled by his spreading “condition,” Rachel has little recourse but to turn to the only man who might be able to help.

Silas Jensen never expected to return to the Antigone’s Wrath, but has an utter inability to say no when Rachel comes crashing back into his life. Between explosions and being shot at, he didn’t think it was possible for things to get worse, but the never-ending mysteries of Rachel’s heritage make every step more difficult than the last.

In a race against time, Rachel and Silas chase a legend across the globe, but are their new allies as benevolent as they seem? Even millennia can’t keep some secrets buried.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/1361TRIXTER Tees Now Available!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/z3ctkDIKZ6w/1380
Fri, 26 Feb 2016 12:31:14 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=1380Alethea Kontis has more T-Shirts for her fans! These shirts should make fans of Trixter happy:

“But we don’t have to talk about that now,” said Eddie. “I know that, if you promise to owe me a favor, that you mean it.”

“Of course,” I said. Honestly, Eddie could be such an old lady sometimes.

“And we both know what happens when people don’t repay favors.”

“Uh, yeah,” I replied, laughing. “And I do not… want… that!”

“Good,” she said. “Then let’s begin.” She placed her hands flat on the table, one on either side of Ms. Moon’s shoe. I placed my hands on the table too, which wasn’t strictly necessary, but it was fun. Eddie smiled at me, and then closed her eyes.

I closed mine too, ready to bask in the reflected magic.

Now I wouldn’t see everything that Eddie did, not even a tenth of it. Maybe less than that.

But with a little help from the alien sponge working its way across my synapses, I could pick up some of the echos. If Eddie was a submarine, I could dip my toes in the water and feel the splashing.

I’m happy to welcome Christiana Ellis to Pendragon Variety Network! Christiana Ellis is a long-time author and podcaster and has a great track-record for funny, so when she started releasing “Phyllis Esposito: Interdimensional Private-Eye,” I started reading.

Christiana Ellis has many other interesting things on her website, ChristianaEllis.com , including my favorites, Nina Kimberly the Merciless and Christiana’s Shallow Thoughts. So now that you have a better idea of Christiana’s flavor of awesome, let me send you over to Phyllis Esposito.

You know how, sometimes a headache will kind of fade into the background until someone reminds you about it?

The table held dozens of tiny cubes, about an inch to a side, each of them individually wrapped in bits of colored paper. Some were stacked in matching colors, and a handful were spread casually in front of the piles. It was like Eddie was getting ready to film a damn TV commercial.

I’d gotten through the worst of my sponge withdrawal, or so I thought, but in that moment, I had never wanted anything more in my entire life.

My head pounded, my stomach rumbled, and I took three steps toward the table before stopping. When I tried to speak, at first my mouth was too dry.

Our lovely Princess Alethea Kontis now has shirts available for her fans! Here’s some backstory:

Alethea Kontis has always loved the Princess Bride, because she’s cool like that, so when she was organizing her fans into a ‘street team’– people who would help spread the word for her books, leave reviews, and things like that — the team ended up being called the Brute Squad. (Join the Brute Squad on Facebook!)

Wouldn’t it be awesome to be wearing these shirts at a convention? For a limited time, they are only $19.99 on Amazon.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/1366Worlds of Abigail Hilton #143 – The Scarlet Albatross and morehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/4ldPUt74Qcg/1355
Fri, 19 Feb 2016 22:01:05 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=1355Abigail Hilton brings us lots of exciting news in episode #143 of her podcast, Worlds of Abigail Hilton. You can listen to the episode below, then make sure to check out her website at AbigailHilton.com to learn more about this wonderfully prolific writer.

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/1350The Darkling Prince Audiobook is Now Availablehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/Zfy5nHRYK3I/1337
Sun, 07 Feb 2016 01:52:33 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=1337We’ve got a treat for all our audiobook lovers out there! Jennifer Melzer’s fantasy, The Darkling Prince, is now available in audiobook format from Audible, iTunes and Amazon.com

The Darkling Prince is an Into the Green novella and runs just over two hours long, and it is currently under seven dollars. Or, if you prefer ebooks, it’s available at Amazon, Kobo, Apple iBooks, and Nook. I love that it’s available in so many formats and from so many retailers.

Narrated by Jay Langejans of New Fiction Writers.

To learn more about The Darkling Prince and Jennifer Melzer’s other fiction, hop on over to her blog here:

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/1337Author Mailing List, Activated! Sign up!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/bAG_z5VWRlY/1321
Fri, 29 Jan 2016 14:56:00 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=1321Since Premeditations came out, so many people have come to me and told me that they were interested in my work but missed several of the announcements on social media.

With facebook algorithms especially, sometimes social media doesn’t cut it, not when you want to be the first to know and take advantage of time-sensitive things like preorder discounts. I also have a few appearances I’m scheduling right now and I would hate to have fans miss them because of these issues.

All this to say that I now have an author mailing list! I will never send you spam, but only one-time announcements when a book or story is published, when it becomes available in another format, or when an appearance is coming up.

Subscribe to my author mailing list:

Thank you for all your feedback!

I really appreciate my followers on social media and on this blog, too. You will continue to see reviews in those places that you won’t see on the author mailing list. On facebook and twitter you’ll no doubt see our homeschooling antics as well. Carry on!

]]>http://pendragonvariety.com/archives/1321You Know It’s All About The FLASH MOBhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Pendragonvariety/~3/oCFYHVg8rK8/1329
Mon, 25 Jan 2016 15:48:43 +0000pendragonvariety@gmail.com (Pendragon Variety Team)http://pendragonvariety.com/?p=1329I was late for my STAR meeting today because there was a Flash Mob at my B&N (West Melbourne, FL) — where I normally go to get some work done beforehand. Needless to say, I didn’t do much this morning.

But that’s TOTALLY OKAY, because I got to take this video instead, and talk to some great teens from local high schools. YOU GUYS ROCK!

Agent Janet Reid answers questions and gives advice. How do agents feel about present tense? (Write well enough that the agent doesn’t notice the writing.) What’s the best thing to do with a lightly shopped but rejected manuscript: give it up and work on the next, self-publish, try for a new agent, or keep shopping it on your own? (It depends on what you want most.) If you’re writing in English but based outside the US, can you get published in the US? (Yes; you don’t have to mention in your query that you don’t live in the US.)